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With a quarter of the season now officially in the books, Matchday 10 of the English Premier League will kick off with a doozy of a matchup bright and early Saturday morning.  So be sure to set that alarm and catch all of the action live on the NBC family of networks or online at NBC Live Extra.

Saturday (all times eastern)

7:30am – Tottenham @ Manchester United – Old Trafford, NBC Sports Network

Heading into last weekend, the sides from Manchester were threatening to turn the title fight in to a two-horse race, but it looks like we can now add a third team to the mix as Tottenham capitalized on two mistakes from a Liverpool defense that remains in shambles to cruise to a 4-1 victory.  They will travel to Old Trafford to kick off the weekend against Manchester United, who saw their eight-game unbeaten run to start the campaign come to an end when they were unable to overturn a two-goal deficit and fell for the first time in 65 years to Huddersfield Town 2-1.

It was a historic victory for the newly promoted Terriers, and moved United five points back of Manchester City and level with their weekend opponent on twenty points.  Both sides will be wary of falling further behind the scintillating City but it should be United the more confident bunch heading in, with the Red Devils dropping only four of their last thirty-six meetings across all competitions with Tottenham (W24 L8 D4), which included an unbeaten run that stretched a remarkable twenty-six games, and winning twenty of their last twenty-five against Spurs at Old Trafford (L2 D3).

10am – West Ham United @ Crystal Palace – Selhurst Park, NBC Live Extra

While the fight at the top of the table is in full swing, a battle is brewing at the bottom with cellar dwellers Crystal Palace unable to follow up their victory over Chelsea the week before although having more than their fair chances before ultimately paying the price four minutes from time in a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.  They will return home to welcome West Ham United to Selhurst Park for a London Derby, with the pressure increasing by the day on manager Slaven Bilic after his side slumped to defeat and down to 16^th in the table after falling to the newly promoted Brighton and Hove Albion 3-0.

The visit across town will give the embattled Croatian one last chance to save his job, although his side took a step in the right direction in the midweek when they fought back from a two goal halftime deficit with three goals in a fifteen minute span to book their place in the quarterfinals of the Carabou Cup at the expense of the mighty Tottenham, and will be confident of taking another step at the weekend after going unbeaten in their last four London Derbies with Crystal Palace under Bilic, coming out winners in three of those affairs and in their last three trips to Selhurst Park.

Sunday (all times eastern)

12pm – Everton @ Leicester City – King Power Stadium, NBC Sports Extra

Ronald Koeman found himself in a similar position to Bilic just last week however the Dutchmen was unable to avoid the firing line with a 5-2 loss to Arsenal, which was the Toffees seventh in eleven matches and left the Merseysiders in the bottom three of the table with just eight points from nine games, his last game in charge after his dismissal on Monday morning.  A caretaker manager will be on the touchline Sunday afternoon when they travel to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City, who won for the first time in their last six league games (L3 D3) with a 2-1 win over Swansea City.

The Foxes were likewise in a similar position to Everton, with the dismissal of Craig Shakespeare only days before leaving them searching for their third manager in the span of eight months and a caretaker manager in charge for the victory over the Swans.  They will hope the appointment this week of former Southampton manager Claude Puel will be the start of their climb out of the bottom half of the table, with Leicester dropping only two of their last eight meetings with Everton across all competitions and just one of the last eight times they have entertained the Toffees at the King Power Stadium (W2 D5).

Matchday 9 of the English Premier League will move us past the quarter pole of the season when it kicks off later today and it may be time to ask the question, can anyone catch either of the Manchester sides? With both having yet to lose while leading the league in goals scored and goals allowed, they are threatening to make it a two-horse race and leave the rest of the league in their wake.  Tune in to catch both this weekend and all the action live on the NBC family of networks and online at NBC Live Extra.

Saturday (all times eastern)

7:30am – Watford @ Chelsea – Stamford Bridge, NBC Sports Network

Chelsea were dealt the shock of the weekend, with Crystal Palace scoring their first league goal in five months to end a scoreless drought of 731 minutes and improbably pick up their first three points of the campaign against the defending league champions and move the holders nine points behind current leaders Manchester City.  Needing to right the ship after back to back losses, they will welcome Watford to Stamford Bridge to open the weekend, with the Hornets jumping the Blues in the table when they overturned a first half deficit with an injury time winner getting them past Arsenal 2-1.

After they were dismantled by the above-mentioned City only weeks ago, the win was a statement game for Watford as Marco Silva has the fourth-place Hornets looking like the surprise side of the year.  They will be put to the test again early Saturday morning against Chelsea who, after losing only five games in the whole of last season, have dropped three in just eight this year but have lost just one of their eight all time Premier League meetings with the Hornets, winning five of the last seven (D2) and six of their last seven at Stamford Bridge (D1).

Sunday (all times eastern)

8:30am – Arsenal @ Everton – Goodison Park, NBC Sports Network

While Arsenal were ultimately doomed by an injury time strike at Watford, it was Everton who used the games dying seconds to their advantage with a 90^th minute penalty from Wayne Rooney rescuing a point against Premier League new boys Brighton and Hove Albion in a 1-1 draw.  The result, which dropped the Toffees down to 16^th in the table, is likely to do little to ease the growing pressure on manager Ronald Koeman’s sputtering side still searching for some sort of continuity in the final third when they return home to Goodison Park and welcome the Gunners to kick off the Sunday slate.

It will be tough to expect any sort of reprieve against the Gunners this weekend in front of their home faithful, who are likely to grow restless and turn on the Dutchmen at the first sign of setback following anther defeat in the Europa League yesterday and where, despite holding their own at Goodison Park as of late and walking away empty handed in only one of their last five meetings in the league (W2 D2) after failing to win any of the previous six, they have lost four of the last five with Arsenal and managed to take all three points in only two of their last twenty meetings in the league (L12 D6).

11am – Liverpool @ Tottenham - Wembley Stadium, NBC Sports Network

Tottenham won for the third week in a row to remain unbeaten in the league since their Matchday 2 defeat to Chelsea and consolidated their hold on third place in the table just below the Manchester sides, with Christian Eriksen’s strike early in the second half enough to see them past Bournemouth 1-0.  The win was their first in the Premier League at their temporary home for the season and they will look to make it two in a row when they welcome Liverpool to Wembley Stadium in the penultimate matchup of the weekend, after the Reds drew with Manchester United in a goalless affair.

The draw was the third in their last four games as they were unable to find a way past a United defense that “parked the bus” in classic Jose Mourinho style and that I missed.  Liverpool are unbeaten in their last ten meetings with Tottenham across all competitions, taking all three points in seven of those encounters and, after dropping their previous six visits to London, have not lost in their last four trips to the capital (W2 D2), with a similar result on Sunday allowing them to narrow the gap in the table with Spurs to only a single point and moving them back within sight of both Manchester sides.

Manchester City vs. Napoli - Over 3.5 (+108)

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We are back from the international break and Matchday 8 of the English Premier league will waste little time getting started when the two most successful clubs in English football renew a rivalry that dates back to 1894 to kick off the weekend action.  Be sure to set that alarm for bright and early Saturday morning and catch every game live on the NBC family of networks or online at NBC Live Extra.

Saturday (all times eastern)

7:30am – Manchester United vs. Liverpool – Anfield, NBC Sports Network

Although I am often times hesitant to invest in the first game back from an international break, let alone the early kickoff, a game that will be at the top of my potential investment card will open up the weekend when Manchester United, who took three points for the third straight week when they piled on to Crystal Palace’s misery and cruised to a 4-0 victory, visit Anfield and a Liverpool side that continued to be wasteful this season in the final third against Newcastle United, with only two of their seventeen shots finding the target and just one the back of the net in a 1-1 draw.

A misfiring offense, that will now be without influential midfielder Sadio Mane after the Senegal international picked up  hamstring injury over the break, combined with a continuing leaky defense that sits near the bottom in goals allowed (12) is not a recipe for success with the free flowing United (21 GS) coming to town although, after dropping their previous four meetings in the league and eight of their last ten across all competitions (W2), Liverpool are unbeaten in their last four with Manchester United (W1 D3) and have picked up points in eight of their last eleven meetings at Anfield (W6 L3 D2).

10am – Chelsea @ Crystal Palace – Selhurst Park, NBC Sports Network

Crystal Palace will be happy to know they will not be returning to Manchester this year, after the defeat to United made it a total of nine goals conceded without reply from their trips to the blue and red side of the city over the last two weeks.  They will also be happy to see their brutal three game stretch against the top of the table mercifully come to an end when they welcome Chelsea to Selhurst Park for a London Derby, with the Blues failing to pick up points for the first time since the opening weekend when they were unable to breach a stingy Manchester City defense to fall six points behind the league leaders.

With a league leading seventeen goals allowed so far this season, Chelsea are unlikely to encounter a similar problem at the weekend against a leaky Crystal Palace defense, even with striker Alvaro Morata set to miss the matchup through injury.  It will be interesting to see the reception that Palace receive at their friendly confines, historically one of the most difficult places to visit in the top flight, but where Chelsea have won six of their last eight visits (L1 D1) and have lost only three of their sixteen all time Premier League meetings with the Eagles, taking maximum points in eleven of those affairs.

12:30pm – Arsenal @ Watford – Vicarage Road, NBC

The final game that could end up on the weekend investment card will wrap up the Saturday slate when Arsenal, unbeaten in their last four and level on points with fourth place Chelsea after winning for the second week running 2-0 over Brighton and Hove Albion, visit Watford at Vicarage Road with the Hornets hoping to put in a better showing than their last at home against a top side a few weeks back when they were steamrolled by Manchester City 6-0, though the Hornets have settled themselves since the defeat to grab four points from a six after their 2-2 draw with West Brom the last time out.

The points haul has given Watford their best-ever start to a Premier League campaign after seven matches (12 points) and, with a better performance than the one they put in against City, could see the Hornets jump ahead of Arsenal in the table with a victory on Saturday, although if history is any indication that could be tough to come by, with their win in the reverse fixture last season the only time the Hornets have managed to pick up points in their eight all-time top flight meetings with the Gunners, dropping the previous seven and the last five across all competitions at Vicarage Road.

Matchday 7 of the English Premier League will kick off Saturday morning with the second to last international break of 2017 looming at the end of the weekend, giving national teams one final chance to wrap up automatic qualification for next summer’s World Cup in Russia, including the USA who face two massive final qualifiers at home against Panama and on the road at Trinidad and Tobago where results are a must if they hope to punch their ticket.  Stay tuned as we will be adding a new feature to our weekly previews after the break and until then enjoy the weekend action with every game available live on the NBC family of networks or online at NBC Live Extra.

Saturday (all times eastern)

10am – Crystal Palace @ Manchester United – Old Trafford, NBC Sports Network

After coasting through the opening month of the season and taking an early position near the top of the table, Manchester United solidified their place as a legitimate title contender when they gutted out a hard fought 1-0 victory on the road at Southampton.  It was the type of game that United would have drawn or dropped last season and has put the rest of the league on notice of the Red devils intent this year ahead of a visit from the lowly Crystal Palace to Old Trafford, with the Eagles’ misery only growing after they were completely steam rolled by Manchester City 5-0.

The loss gave Palace the dubious distinction of becoming the first team in English Football League history to start a season with six defeats and no goals, and the only team in Europe's big five divisions yet to score a league goal this season, neither an encouraging sign heading to Old Trafford where they will face a United side that have never lost to Palace in their sixteen all time Premier League meetings (W13 D3), have won the last ten between the two at the Theater of Dreams, and that holds the joint best defensive record (2GA) in the league and have yet to concede a goal at home this season.

12:30pm – Manchester City @ Chelsea – Stamford Bridge, NBC

Another massive early season showdown will wrap up the Saturday slate when Manchester City, fresh off the demolition of Palace and now the first team to score at least five goals in three consecutive Premier League matches, bring their high-flying attack to Stamford Bridge for a potential six pointer against Chelsea, with the Blues prepping for the title tilt by getting a first Premier League hat trick from summer signing Alvaro Morata in a 4-0 victory over Stoke City and then stunning Atletico Madrid with an injury time winner to stay perfect through two games in their midweek Champions League group clash.

The Spaniard has proven to be a more than capable replacement for the exiled Diego Costa, who is officially off the clubs books with his transfer back to Atleti confirmed this week, and should test a Manchester City back line that holds the joint best defensive record through six games with United but will be without center back and captain Vincent Kompany as well as left back Benjamin Mendy through injury against the defending champions that pulled the double over the Citizens last season and that have lost only one of their last seven to the current league leaders at Stamford Bridge (W4 D2).

Sunday (all times eastern)

11:30am – Liverpool @ Newcastle United – St. James’ Park, NBC Sports Network

The weekend action will wind down and lead you right into the Ravens kickoff when Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool head to St. James’ Park to take on former Reds manager Rafa Benitez and Newcastle United, who saw their three-game winning streak and jaunt up the table come to a screeching halt when they fell to the newly promoted Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0, while the German and the Reds will look to get the better of the Magpies after climbing up to fifth in the table when they held on for a 3-2 victory over Leicester City in a game that had more than a few nervy second half moments for the visitors.

A matchup that has rarely disappointed over the years, with a scoreless draw yet to occur in their forty-four all-time top flight meetings and a ridiculous 3.14 goals per game average, Klopp and Liverpool should be able to deploy the attacking quartet of Phillippe Coutinho, Roberto Firminio, Sadio Mane and Muhammad Salah for the first time in the league which should help to offset a leaky defense that sits in the bottom five of goals allowed and that have dropped their last two trips to St. James’ Park, winning just one of the last four meetings overall between the two (L2 D1).